And I'll let you in on a little secret: us liberals want to see this bastard hang as well. We not only want a woman to have the right to choose, we want her to be safe in the choice she makes. (That also means that when she makes the choice the keep the child, we want her decision supported with medical care if she needs it!)

What Gosnell was doing in West Philly was horrible. Period. But, as Thoguh: pointed out, that is what would become the norm if a woman's right to choose is eliminated.

But the illegal abortion business also posed an additional dilemma. Babies that big are hard to get out. Gosnell's approach, whenever possible, was to force full labor and delivery of premature infants on ill-informed women. The women would check in during the day, make payment, and take labor-inducing drugs. The doctor wouldn't appear until evening, often 8:00, 9:00, or 10:00p.m., and only then deal with any of the women who were ready to deliver. Many of them gave birth before he even got there.By maximizing the pain and danger for his patients, he minimized the work, and cost, for himself and his staff. The policy, in effect, was labor without labor. There remained, however, a final difficulty. When you perform late-term "abortions" by inducing labor, youget babies. Live, breathing, squirming babies. By 24 weeks, most babies born prematurely will survive if they receive appropriate medical care. But that was not what the Women's Medical Society was about. Gosnell had a simple solution for the unwanted babies he delivered: he killed them. He didn't call it that. He called it "ensuring fetal demise." The way he ensured fetal demise was by sticking scissors into the back of the baby's neck and cutting the spinal cord. He called that "snipping."Over the years, there were hundreds of "snippings." Sometimes, if Gosnell was unavailable, the "snipping" was done by one of his fake doctors, or even by one of theadministrative staff. But all the employees of the Women's Medical Society knew. Everyone there acted as if it wasn't murder at all. Most of these acts cannot be prosecute d, because Gosnell destroyed the files. Among the relatively few cases that could be specifically documented, one was Baby Boy A. His 17-year-old mother was almost 30 weeks pregnant - seven and a half months - when labor was induced. An employee esti mated his birth weight as approaching six pounds. He was breathing and moving when Dr. Gosnell severed his spine and put the body in a plastic shoebox for disposal. The doctor joked that this baby was so big he could "walk me to the bus stop." Another, Baby Boy B, whose body was found at the clinic frozen in a one-gallon spring-water bottle, was at least 28 weeks of gestational age when he was killed. Baby C was moving and breathing for 20 minutes before an assistant came in and cut the spinal cord, just the way she had seen Gosnell do it so many times.Dr. Gosnell didn't just kill babies. He was also a deadly threat to mothers. Notevery abortion could be completed by inducing labor and delivery. On these occasions, Gosnell would attempt to remove the fetus himself. The consequences were often calamitous - though that didn't stop the doctor from trying to cover them up.mOne woman, for example, was left lying in place for hours after Gosnell tore her cervix and colon while trying, unsuccessfully, to extract the fetus. Relatives who came to pick her up were refused entry into the building; they had to threaten to call the police. They eventually found her inside, bleeding and incoherent, and transported her to the hospital, where doctors had to remove almost half a foot of her intestines. On another occasion, Gosnell simply se nt a patient home, after keeping her mother waiting for hours, without telling either of them that she still had fetal parts inside her. Gosnell insisted she was fine, even after signs of serious infection set in over the next several days. By the time her mother got her to the emergency room, she was unconscious and near death. A nineteen-year-old girl was held for several hours after Gosnell punctured her uterus. As a result of the delay, she fell into shock from blood loss, and had to undergo a hysterectomy. One patient went into convulsions during an abortion, fell off the procedure table, and hit her head on the floor. Gosnell wouldn't call an ambulance, and wouldn't let the woman's companion leave the building so that he could call an ambulance.Only in one class of cases did Gosnell exercise any real care with these dangerous sedatives. On those rare occasions when the patient was a white woman from the suburbs, Gosnell insisted that he be consulted at every step. When an employee asked him why, he said it was "the way of the world."No wonder it's not being covered. Too many media narratives would be overturned.

/But the law tells us there is a "right to abortion," and the law is an honorable thing...

But the illegal abortion business also posed an additional dilemma. Babies that big are hard to get out. Gosnell's approach, whenever possible, was to force full labor and delivery of premature infants on ill-informed women. The women would check in during the day, make payment, and take labor-inducing drugs. The doctor wouldn't appear until evening, often 8:00, 9:00, or 10:00p.m., and only then deal with any of the women who were ready to deliver. Many of them gave birth before he even got there.By maximizing the pain and danger for his patients, he minimized the work, and cost, for himself and his staff. The policy, in effect, was labor without labor. There remained, however, a final difficulty. When you perform late-term "abortions" by inducing labor, youget babies. Live, breathing, squirming babies. By 24 weeks, most babies born prematurely will survive if they receive appropriate medical care. But that was not what the Women's Medical Society was about. Gosnell had a simple solution for the unwanted babies he delivered: he killed them. He didn't call it that. He called it "ensuring fetal demise." The way he ensured fetal demise was by sticking scissors into the back of the baby's neck and cutting the spinal cord. He called that "snipping."Over the years, there were hundreds of "snippings." Sometimes, if Gosnell was unavailable, the "snipping" was done by one of his fake doctors, or even by one of theadministrative staff. But all the employees of the Women's Medical Society knew. Everyone there acted as if it wasn't murder at all. Most of these acts cannot be prosecute d, because Gosnell destroyed the files. Among the relatively few cases that could be specifically documented, one was Baby Boy A. His 17-year-old mother was almost 30 weeks pregnant - seven and a half months - when labor was induced. An employee esti mated his birth weight as approaching six pounds. He was breathing and moving when Dr. Gosnell severed his spine and put the body in a plastic shoebox for disposal. The doctor joked that this baby was so big he could "walk me to the bus stop." Another, Baby Boy B, whose body was found at the clinic frozen in a one-gallon spring-water bottle, was at least 28 weeks of gestational age when he was killed. Baby C was moving and breathing for 20 minutes before an assistant came in and cut the spinal cord, just the way she had seen Gosnell do it so many times.Dr. Gosnell didn't just kill babies. He was also a deadly threat to mothers. Notevery abortion could be completed by inducing labor and delivery. On these occasions, Gosnell would attempt to remove the fetus himself. The consequences were often calamitous - though that didn't stop the doctor from trying to cover them up.mOne woman, for example, was left lying in place for hours after Gosnell tore her cervix and colon while trying, unsuccessfully, to extract the fetus. Relatives who came to pick her up were refused entry into the building; they had to threaten to call the police. They eventually found her inside, bleeding and incoherent, and transported her to the hospital, where doctors had to remove almost half a foot of her intestines. On another occasion, Gosnell simply se nt a patient home, after keeping her mother waiting for hours, without telling either of them that she still had fetal parts inside her. Gosnell insisted she was fine, even after signs of serious infection set in over the next several days. By the time her mother got her to the emergency room, she was unconscious and near death. A nineteen-year-old girl was held for several hours after Gosnell punctured her uterus. As a result of the delay, she fell into shock from blood loss, and had to undergo a hysterectomy. One patient went into convulsions during an abortion, fell off the procedure table, and hit her head on the floor. Gosnell wouldn't call an ambulance, and wouldn't let the woman's companion leave the building so that he could call an ambulance. Only in one class of cases did Gosnell exercise any real care with these dangerous sedatives. On those rare occasions when the patient was a white woman from the suburbs, Gosnell insisted that he be consulted at every step. When an employee asked him why, he said it was "the way of the world." No wonder it's not being covered. Too many media narratives would be overturned.

/But the law tells us there is a "right to abortion," and the law is an honorable thing...

But the illegal abortion business also posed an additional dilemma. Babies that big are hard to get out. Gosnell's approach, whenever possible, was to force full labor and delivery of premature infants on ill-informed women. The women would check in during the day, make payment, and take labor-inducing drugs. The doctor wouldn't appear until evening, often 8:00, 9:00, or 10:00p.m., and only then deal with any of the women who were ready to deliver. Many of them gave birth before he even got there.By maximizing the pain and danger for his patients, he minimized the work, and cost, for himself and his staff. The policy, in effect, was labor without labor. There remained, however, a final difficulty. When you perform late-term "abortions" by inducing labor, youget babies. Live, breathing, squirming babies. By 24 weeks, most babies born prematurely will survive if they receive appropriate medical care. But that was not what the Women's Medical Society was about. Gosnell had a simple solution for the unwanted babies he delivered: he killed them. He didn't call it that. He called it "ensuring fetal demise." The way he ensured fetal demise was by sticking scissors into the back of the baby's neck and cutting the spinal cord. He called that "snipping."Over the years, there were hundreds of "snippings." Sometimes, if Gosnell was unavailable, the "snipping" was done by one of his fake doctors, or even by one of theadministrative staff. But all the employees of the Women's Medical Society knew. Everyone there acted as if it wasn't murder at all. Most of these acts cannot be prosecute d, because Gosnell destroyed the files. Among the relatively few cases that could be specifically documented, one was Baby Boy A. His 17-year-old mother was almost 30 weeks pregnant - seven and a half months - when labor was induced. An employee esti mated his birth weight as approaching six pounds. He was breathing and moving ...

Was this guy running a legit practice? You would think that a hospital receiving his mutilated patients would have called the police? If it is a legit practice, why wasn't something done about it? Are there regulations to cover this sort of thing? If not, why not?

This from the comments caught my eye. I like how Alisa Snow dances around the answer because she knows that the implications of her position are monsterous.

kore:Was this guy running a legit practice? You would think that a hospital receiving his mutilated patients would have called the police? If it is a legit practice, why wasn't something done about it? Are there regulations to cover this sort of thing? If not, why not?

Again, from the report, p. 148:

"But at least the department had been doing something up to that point, however ineffectual. After 1993, even that pro forma effort came to an end. Not because of administrative ennui, although there had been plenty. Instead, the Pennsylvania Department of Health abruptly decided, for political reasons, to stop inspecting abortion clinics at all. The politics in question were not anti-abortion, but pro. With the change of administration from Governor [Robert] Casey to Governor [Tom] Ridge [ironically, a Republican], officials concluded that inspections would be "putting a barrier up to women" seeking abortions. Better to leave clinics to do as they pleased, even though, as Gosnell proved, that meant both women and babies would pay."

MasterThief:kore: Was this guy running a legit practice? You would think that a hospital receiving his mutilated patients would have called the police? If it is a legit practice, why wasn't something done about it? Are there regulations to cover this sort of thing? If not, why not?

Again, from the report, p. 148:

"But at least the department had been doing something up to that point, however ineffectual. After 1993, even that pro forma effort came to an end. Not because of administrative ennui, although there had been plenty. Instead, the Pennsylvania Department of Health abruptly decided, for political reasons, to stop inspecting abortion clinics at all. The politics in question were not anti-abortion, but pro. With the change of administration from Governor [Robert] Casey to Governor [Tom] Ridge [ironically, a Republican], officials concluded that inspections would be "putting a barrier up to women" seeking abortions. Better to leave clinics to do as they pleased, even though, as Gosnell proved, that meant both women and babies would pay."

Something, something, cunning plan, something, something, something.

But mention some oversight and regulation and Planned Parenthood cries havoc.

MasterThief:kore: Was this guy running a legit practice? You would think that a hospital receiving his mutilated patients would have called the police? If it is a legit practice, why wasn't something done about it? Are there regulations to cover this sort of thing? If not, why not?

Again, from the report, p. 148:

"But at least the department had been doing something up to that point, however ineffectual. After 1993, even that pro forma effort came to an end. Not because of administrative ennui, although there had been plenty. Instead, the Pennsylvania Department of Health abruptly decided, for political reasons, to stop inspecting abortion clinics at all. The politics in question were not anti-abortion, but pro. With the change of administration from Governor [Robert] Casey to Governor [Tom] Ridge [ironically, a Republican], officials concluded that inspections would be "putting a barrier up to women" seeking abortions. Better to leave clinics to do as they pleased, even though, as Gosnell proved, that meant both women and babies would pay."

Cataholic:And yet when Kansas tried to enact rules to bring abortion clinics up to the same standards as outpatient surgery suites, the caterwauling from the left was endless.

Yeah, except that's not the case. The case was they were drawing up building codes based on standards for hospitals that had never before been applied to a clinical setting (as opposed to hospital setting) and applying them exclusively to abortion clinics. If the same standards were imposed on dentists who do root canals, it'd be different. Otherwise, it's clearly intended to force the abortion provider to either rebuild or shut down.

phyrkrakr:Cataholic: And yet when Kansas tried to enact rules to bring abortion clinics up to the same standards as outpatient surgery suites, the caterwauling from the left was endless.

Yeah, except that's not the case. The case was they were drawing up building codes based on standards for hospitals that had never before been applied to a clinical setting (as opposed to hospital setting) and applying them exclusively to abortion clinics. If the same standards were imposed on dentists who do root canals, it'd be different. Otherwise, it's clearly intended to force the abortion provider to either rebuild or shut down.

And I'm sure you have cites to the Kansas regulatory codes showing where outpatient surgery facilities have less stringent standards to back up this statement.

I love how some people are getting all frothy about this, how awful it is (and it is awful), and blaming it on abortion, per se. In fact, THIS IS THE WAY ALL ABORTIONS WILL BE DONE when abortions are outlawed.

This was an ILLEGAL abortion center, doing illegal things illegally, so of course the solution is to make all abortions illegal. That will surely mean that nothing like this will happen again...

silvervial:I love how some people are getting all frothy about this, how awful it is (and it is awful), and blaming it on abortion, per se. In fact, THIS IS THE WAY ALL ABORTIONS WILL BE DONE when abortions are outlawed.

Except, no one here is blaming abortion as far as I can tell. But let's just dismiss an opposing view as "frothy" and misrepresent its position, nothing to see here folks.

This was an ILLEGAL abortion center, doing illegal things illegally, so of course the solution is to make all abortions illegal. That will surely mean that nothing like this will happen again..

Who, in this thread, took the position "make all abortions illegal"? What's been pointed out is that proper regulations on abortion practices that would create more oversight are uniformly opposed by Planned Parenthood.

If his practice and center were illegal, why didn't the Pennsylvania Department of Health act, at least verify license, when they started receiving allegations of malpractice (that go back as far as 2001)? He opened the clinic in 1998 and it took 10 years for anything to even begin to be done, and even then it was the DEA and FBI who were investigating a drug conspiracy, not medical malpractice related to abortions. The conclusion being drawn is that Dr. Gosnell was indirectly protected by a lack of oversight that exists because Planned Parenthood mischaracterizes any attempt at codifying regulations on abortion as unconstitutional.

kore:The conclusion being drawn is that Dr. Gosnell was indirectly protected by a lack of oversight that exists because Planned Parenthood mischaracterizes any attempt at codifying regulations on abortion as unconstitutional

attempts to restrict access to abortion.

FTFY.

The simple way to avoid that would seem be to crafting laws that try to codify regulations for safety, which also include express measures to preserve access. So, instead of passing a law (say) prohibiting abortion clinics that do not have a doctor on staff with hospital admitting privileges, require all public hospitals grant emergency admitting privileges to the senior physician of any such clinic.Though Pennsyltuckia's a bit too red for much chance of that sort of law there.